Stocks Fight Back On Fed Beige Book Data

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied up 89.46 points to close at 12,805.39 Wednesday after the Fed’s Beige Book showed the U.S. economy expanded at a modest rate following a generally positive start to the quarterly earnings onslaught.

The Nasdaq moved up 25.24 points to 3,016.46 and the S&P 500 picked up 10.12 points to finish at 1,368.71.

In other economic news, the Labor Department reported import prices moved up 1.3% in March, the largest increase in nearly a year and significantly higher than the 0.8% jump predicted by most economists.

Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association said weekly mortgage applications declined last week, primarily as a result of receding refinancing demand.

Here are some more details from Wednesday’s trading session:

Dow Jones Industrial Average:

Today’s gain snaps a five-day losing streak.

Largest one-day points and percentage gain since March 26, 2012.

An intraday high of 12844.82 occurred at 10:34.52 today, representing an increase of 128.89 points, or 1.01%.

An intraday low of 12716.92 occurred at the open today.

Twenty-four of the 30 component stocks rose, six fell.

Today's top five contributors to The Dow's movement and their point contribution: CAT (9.99), BA (8.85), UTX (8.70), JPM (7.95), MCD (7.04).